---
title: Learn a topic and use Learn mode
description: Learn a topic in planned sessions that skip what you already know, check yourself by teaching it back, and turn on Learn mode in any Ask conversation to get hints before answers.
new_in: "3.19"
---

You don't need course files to learn with Ysra. Name a topic and it plans
short sessions for you; or turn on **Learn mode** in any Ask conversation and
Ysra tutors you instead of handing you the answer. This page covers both.

## Learn a topic

1. Open **Learn**, choose **Learn a new topic**, and type the topic, for
   example *Fourier series* or *discounted cash flow*. Ysra reads up on the
   topic first, so this can take a minute. To turn an existing Ask chat into
   a topic, choose **From an Ask chat**.
2. Answer **three quick questions**. They let the sessions skip what you
   already know. Leave a question blank if you don't know the answer: that
   helps too.
3. Choose **Plan my sessions**.

Each session follows the same shape:

| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| **Explanation** | Ysra explains the idea at your level, with a drawing or an interactive View when it helps. |
| **Try it** | You try an exercise and choose **Check my answer**. |
| **Teach it back** | You explain the idea in your own words, as to a friend, and choose **Send my explanation**. |

Ysra tells you how you did — **Solid.**, **Almost.** or **Not yet.** — and
what to look at again. The **Topics** tab on the Learn page shows each topic
you've started and how far you've got: **Seen**, **Practised** or **Solid**.

## Learn mode in Ask

Learn mode is a switch beside the message box in an Ask conversation. With
it on, Ysra acts as a tutor:

- it asks what you've tried, and gives a hint before the answer;
- it lets you try each step, then shows its solution;
- it can draw what it's explaining once you've had a guess: choose **Draw
  the picture** when a lesson has one.

To get the answer straight away, choose **Just tell me**.

| Where | Learn mode |
|---|---|
| A tutor chat in a notebook | On |
| Any other Ask conversation | Off until you turn it on |

### When hints first is locked

The owner of a shared notebook can lock **Hints first** for the people they
share it with. When it's locked, you see a padlock next to **Hints first**,
the switch stays on, and **Just tell me** shows the solution only after you've
tried a step.

## What it costs

Topic sessions, marking your answers and Learn mode use credits like any
answer in Ask. See [Credits and usage](../workspace/credits.md).

## Related

- [Learn](index.md) — notebooks, review and what each costs.
- [Study with a notebook](notebooks.md) — make a notebook from your course files.
- [Ask a question](../knowledge/index.md) — how Ask works.